Built in 1996, the 16,508-square-foot, Class C retail facility sits on 2 acres on the north side of Giacosa Place in the Commons at Wolfchase shopping center. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $1.1 million.

Prior to being the Stone Gallery, the property was a Golf Discount Superstore. And before that, the space was occupied by Toys R Us. Story & Associates LP c/o Golf Discount of St. Peters, Mo., bought the site in October 2004 for $2.2 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Dot Foods to Build Dyersburg Plant

Dot Foods Inc., an Illinois company that redistributes food to convenience stores, vending machines and other food service vendors, will build a $24 million distribution center in Dyersburg, Tenn.

Company officials and state and Dyersburg leaders announced the plans Monday, Aug. 26, in Dyersburg.

The warehouse, the company’s first in Tennessee, is to be built on Tenn. 211 in the Dyersburg Industrial Park and will mean 157 new jobs in the Dyer County area in the warehouse’s first three years.

A temporary office opens in the fall, with the center itself scheduled to open in September 2014.

The company begins hiring truck drivers and looking for management staff immediately.

The 166,494-square-foot warehouse will include frozen, refrigerated and ambient storage as well as a 9,500-square-foot garage for tractors and trucks.

The center will serve Dot customers in a five-state area.

– Bill Dries

23-Member School Board Holds Final Meeting

The countywide school board holds its last meeting as a 23-member body Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Effective Sept. 1, the transitional board slims down to seven members elected in 2012 from seven districts that cover all of Shelby County, including the city of Memphis.

The Monday meeting will be the last for the nine members of the old Memphis City Schools board and the seven members of the old Shelby County Schools board, whose seats became part of the transitional school board under terms of a federal court settlement. The settlement set the terms for the consolidation of the county’s two public school systems.

Three of the outgoing MCS board members have resolutions on Monday’s agenda that would affect school operations long after their departures.

On the agenda is a resolution from school board member Dr. Jeff Warren that would recognize existing labor organizations as representatives of some employees of the school system. Those organizations include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Memphis Education Association, both unions that represented and bargained in contract talks for groups of employees of the old Memphis City Schools system.

Board member Betty Mallot has a resolution that calls on the superintendent to recommend a process “for monitoring the performance and assessing the effectiveness of charter schools.” The resolution also calls for a process to address charter school students returning to conventional public schools if the charter school closes.

A resolution from school board member Patrice Robinson calls for a review by state officials, including Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson’s office, of the school system’s existing health care insurance plans to “assess the feasibility of a collaborative effort” with the state and Shelby County government “in realizing a greater volume discount for a group insurance program.”

The options mentioned by Robinson in the resolution include participation in the county or state group insurance plans.

– Bill Dries

Boscos Brings Back Derailleur Ale

Boscos Restaurant and Brewing Co. on Sunday, Sept. 1, will be bringing back its Derailleur Ale custom brew.

The light, hoppy beer will be available for sale at all Boscos locations in Tennessee and Arkansas.

Boscos Squared in Overton Square also will celebrate the beer’s return with an evening of beer and live music Sunday.

The event begins at 5 p.m., and all proceeds from the evening will benefit Boscos Cycling and the Mid-South Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

– Jennifer Johnson Backer

District Attorney Offers Bikes for School Attendance

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich is offering a bike to each student with perfect attendance in 12 elementary and middle schools in the Shelby County Schools system and Achievement School District.

The Bike Rewards program is funded by the Hyde Family Foundation and is part of the District Attorney General’s office Truancy Reduction Program.

The bicycles will be awarded at the end of the school year to students who have no absences and no tardy occurrences for the entire year.

The elementary schools in the program are Ford Road, Hickory Ridge, Shannon, Westwood and Winridge.

The middle schools in the program are Chickasaw, Georgian Hills, Hamilton, Hickory Ridge, Ridgeway, Sherwood and Westside Achievement.

The schools have approximately 7,500 students.

– Bill Dries

Domino’s Pizza Looking to Hire in Memphis

Domino’s Pizza is hiring 200 employees across 32 stores in the Memphis area.

All of the new positions offered are for delivery drivers, assistant managers and general managers.

Domino’s has 32 franchise-owned stores in Memphis, and the company says its success has increased the need for additional support from new employees.

– Andy Meek

Economists: Future Deficits Top US Fiscal Problem

The biggest fiscal challenge facing the U.S. is the size of projected deficits in the 2020s and 2030s, according to a survey of business economists.

The National Association for Business Economics surveyed 220 of its members in July and August. The survey found that members were more concerned about the size of deficits in the next two decades than current deficits or deficits over the next 10 years: 43 percent of the economists named budget gaps in the 2020s and 2030s as the top fiscal challenge, compared with 37 percent who chose projected deficits over the next 10 years.

The policy survey found no consensus on the best way to address those deficits.

The NABE said 39 percent of those surveyed felt the best way to address the deficit-to-gross domestic product ratio in the next few decades is a mix of spending restraint and increased revenue. It said 32 percent believe the best single tool would be greater spending restraint, and 20 percent said enacting policies designed to encourage economic growth would be the best tactic.

– The Associated Press

Finance Complaints Against Haslam, Campfield Seen

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance will determine whether to fine Gov. Bill Haslam and state Sen. Stacy Campfield.

The registry earlier voted to impose modest fines on three Democratic legislators who failed to report political contributions. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner of Nashville was assessed $250. State Reps. Joe Armstrong, D-Knoxville, and G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, were fined $50 each.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Turner came before the registry on Wednesday and told members he was embarrassed by finding he had not reported almost $20,000 in PAC contributions by not paying attention to paperwork.

“I deserve a fine,” Turner said.

The Registry put on its Oct. 9 agenda discussion of a complaint filed against Haslam by former state Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester. He contends the governor should disclose personal payments made to veteran political operative Tom Ingram.

Campfield initially listed and then deleted a $1,000 “in-kind” donation from former Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, who gave $100 to Campfield’s opponent.